Voting by mail is becoming increasingly popular. Several western States use voting by mail as their primary method of voting. Voting by mail is also used extensively in connection with absentee voting. For voting by mail, a ballot package needs to be prepared by the voting authority and sent to the voter in advance of election day. The ballot package typically includes a ballot, some instructions, and a return envelope to send the ballot back in. The ballot package may also include a sample ballot and a security envelope. Different districts require different candidates/measures on the ballot. Also, within a district ballots are required for different language, different precincts, and rotation of vote choices.
To maintain voter privacy and anonymity, the ballots themselves must not include any way to identify the voter. However, there must be some way to verify that the vote came from the individual authorized to cast the absentee vote. For this purpose, the return envelope is typically signed. The signature on the envelope is compared to the signature of record for the voter to determine whether the absentee ballot can be validly counted. Once the return envelope is validated, the ballot can be removed and counted separately.
In the past, much of the work in preparing ballot package to send to voters has been done manually. Also, much of the work of receiving, validating and counting returned ballots has also been done manually. Such work has been costly, time consuming, and sometimes less reliable than desired. Some attempts at automating the processes have been tried. For example, U.S. patent application US 2004/0041017, filed Mar. 4, 2004, (incorporated herein by reference) describes some of the difficulties and solutions for voting by mail processes.